Labour encourages members to campaign against closure of All Saints’ Primary

Julian Critchley from Island Labour says, “the Council should really have learned lessons from the previous attempt to close Sandown Bay Academy; communities know that schools are more than just bricks and mortar.”

The Isle of Wight Labour Party has contacted all its members to encourage them to lend their support to the campaign to keep All Saints’ CE Primary School open.

Isle of Wight Council holds a Cabinet Meeting on Thursday 14th March, at the West Wight Sports and Community Centre, Freshwater. Supporters of the school plan to demonstrate against the closure of All Saints’ Primary, from 4.30 to 5pm, in Moa Place.

The Labour Party has asked all its members to demonstrate their support for keeping the school open, by either attending the demonstration or by lobbying their local councillor.

The heart of any community
Island Labour Chair, Julian Critchley, said:

“A school isn’t just buildings and land, although it often seems that is all the Tories see when they consider such things. A school is, in many ways, the heart of any community. We have to stop treating essential public services as if they are merely inconvenient numbers on a spreadsheet.

“The Council undoubtedly has its eyes on the prime land occupied by the school, which they consider ripe for yet another short-term sell-off of what currently belongs to the local community. This is unacceptable. All Saints’ School has served generations of Islanders, and is a much-loved focal point for the West Wight community which must be allowed to remain open.”

Labour stands with people of West Wight
He went on to add,

“The Council should really have learned lessons from the previous attempt to close Sandown Bay Academy; communities know that schools are more than just bricks and mortar.

“The people of West Wight are clearly not willing to let their school be taken from them without a fight. The Island Labour Party stands with them in that fight.”